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Friday, July 20, 2012

Inter-view

A look inside. The inter view. Lots of feelings have bubbled to the surface after this positive article was written. Humbled, honored, exposed, accounted, spot-lighted are among the stronger sensations.

Having just blogged on how authenticity in our actions, this piece really put some of the foundation to the test. I'm reminded of a popular FUN song right now. "Oh Lord, I'm still not sure what I stand for, oh, What do I stand for? What do I stand for? Most nights, I don't know, anymore..." a deep questioning process we often leave on the back-burner... next to the tea kettle. Both, we tell ourselves, ready and waiting for when a guest comes over...

Well the guest has arrived and they want to know. What do you stand for? What do you stand for? How can we give a true vision of this? Does our practice meet our beliefs? How well do we know the foundation on which we are standing? It's so much easier to be quiet, say something diplomatic and move on. I believe that the Mississippi is an under-utilized and important recreational resource which needs to be protected by active citizens, stewards and governments. Sounds like I'm typing a text book, or a pamphlet for the National Park Service.

I have learned some of the best ways of growing and sharing growth is through stories. They allow us to re-claim the past. Re-learn lessons lost the first-time around. They do this and so much more if we let them. If we let the past move like the future, that is. Into a space of interpretation, outside of 'fact'.

This-happened. Fact - thinking really boxes us into a corner. How liberating to be asked: "what do you stand for?" again and again. To ask ourselves. Ask our friends. Ask our lovers. Even when we think we know the answer. Especially at those times... We mustn't be afraid to answer. Dig it out. Look for your foundation, and stand on it! Don't fear the winds of social opinion. They will blow. It might tip you over.

This is one reason why story telling is so enchanting and powerful: the embarrassing failures, deep cuts and character discrepancies of yesterday are the proud lessons, healing scars, and foundations of right now. The most true time we ever have.

Maybe I will find my true foundation in the stories of others? We at the Paddle Taxi have decided to start sharing the stories paddlers in order to find out what exactly it is about the Mississippi River that makes it so special. Maybe we are looking for our own foundations? If so, is that so wrong?

2 comments:

"All was a-shake and a-shiver--glints and gleams and sparkles, rustle and swirl, chatter and bubble. The Mole was bewitched, entranced, fascinated. By the side of the river he trotted as one trots, when very small, by the side of a man who holds one spell-bound by exciting stories; and when tired at last, he sat on the bank, while the river still chattered on to him, a babbling procession of the best stories in the world, sent from the heart of the earth to be told at last to the insatiable sea."